In Other Words

Vote “No” On All Three Holtville Utility Tax Proposals SO HERE WE GO AGAIN. IT’S time for another election in Imperial County and Holtville. If this one doesn’t put you right to sleep you’re probably dead already. All we have for those of us who love to follow politics is a few school board elections [...]

Vote “No” On All Three Holtville Utility Tax Proposals

SO HERE WE GO AGAIN. IT’S time for another election in Imperial County and Holtville.
If this one doesn’t put you right to sleep you’re probably dead already.
All we have for those of us who love to follow politics is a few school board elections and Holtville’s Measure M, N, & O.
Does anyone have any idea of who is running for these very important positions?
Or do you know that a couple of citizens in Holtville are behind trying to get the utility tax there repealed? Anybody paying attention?
For me, you should vote no on all of these utility tax proposals and let the utility tax stay in place, keeping us safe with the good fire and police protection that it funds.
Knocking this tax off means knocking off a few firemen and a few policemen. That’s fine until your house catches fire or someone decides to burglarize it. Then you will scream bloody murder about the inadequate service you get.
Appointed Councilman Jerry Brittsan is on record as saying his utility tax bill amounts to $30.00 per month. It’s probably the best investment he has, even though he’s one of the people opposing this tax.
For his $30, he gets 24/7 police protection for himself and his property. He also gets 24/7 fire protection. Try getting that from a private security agency.
And he even gets park maintenance in Holtville’s showcase location – Holt Park. Not bad for less than a dollar a day.
If you vote for any of the current proposals, then you will be voting for a sunset clause which will eventually do away with the tax. Or give you a chance to vote on doing away with it.
I agree with “Mr. Holtville” Pete Mellinger who says the best way is to leave the tax in place as it is.
Only a handful of citizens are promoting its demise. There has been no major public outcry against this tax. And you won’t gain anything by doing away with it. The money for the programs it supports has to come from somewhere. Doing away with it will only weaken those services that are so basic to everyone’s well being.
Go to your utility bill and study it over. See if you can find the tax on it. It’s there if you search for it.
Then ask yourself if you would prefer to have less police and fire protection or a savings of a few cents on a bill that isn’t very big to begin with.
There are those who would want to turn back the clock and think you can still do that. Back to say, the 1950s. General Motors was king of the hill in the USA. “What’s good for General Motors is good for the country” was a popular slogan of the time. GM has gone through a bankruptcy and reorganization.
The Edsel was billed as the car of the future by Ford. It lasted 2 and a half years.
The point is everything keeps changing and if you don’t change with it, you dry up and blow away.
Holtville has kept pace through lots of diligent work by city officials to provide the city with a modern, efficient police department. It has also provided a fire department that can respond in a matter of minutes to an emergency and provides EMT service 24/7 too.
Don’t throw it out because of a small tax that doesn’t cost you much of anything. If you’re the one needing emergency services, and you never know when you will, you want the best thing money can buy. This tax provides. Live long and prosper with it.
HOLTVILLE ALSO HAS A PROBLEM WITH DOGS AND CATS. Too many of them, it would seem are running around loose and without proper supervision.
This has resulted in traffic accidents involving animals, dogs menacing girl scouts and running around everywhere. There was even a family of felines holed up at our apartment complex.
So, how come Holtville doesn’t have a dog catcher? It used to have one. Apparently that task has been assigned to someone in public works. Nobody, including the city council, is sure of what’s happening with this.
Everybody wants something to be done with it, but nobody will act on it. C’mon City council people! Vote in a dog catcher. Everybody agrees we need one.
How much can it cost? The ‘We don’t have any money” excuse shouldn’t be applied here when it comes to the public good. Find the money. Or maybe the sheriff can do it for the city. How did that get overlooked in the $900,000 a year contract. we’re in favor of the Sheriff’s Dept. But let’s get the most for our money.
But don’t sweep it under the rug. That’s the way its going right now. It will be brought back for a few meetings and when no action is taken it will disappear from view again. Hopefully no one will get chomped on by a pit bull on city property.
Peace.